The Rooftop
by nleslie
Summary: AKA: The Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Boy Who Could Do Anything. -- It's Friday night, but Max would rather spend the evening with his best friend. Jude/Max R&R! Uploaded like, eight times. Sorry if I confused anyone! :P


**The Rooftop/The Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Boy Who Could Do Anything **By Nora Leslie (queen of atrociously long titles: woo!)

**Hooray for my first Across the Universe fanfiction! And a Jude/Max, no less!**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own this amazing wonder of a movie. If I did, this wouldn't be my first Across the Universe_ fanfiction._ ;)

--

_Lazy fucking Sundays_, Jude thought darkly as he sketched lazily on a drawing he wasn't quite paying attention to. He was alone in the penthouse: Sadie and the rest of the gang were downtown at Café Huh? as usual, though Jude didn't tag along this time. He still had some work to do, and quite frankly, he was sick of waking up with a damn hangover every morning after going out, which, lately, was every morning. So there he sat, barely listening to the incoherent music coming from one of the other tenant's rooms, sketching away with tired eyes.

Lately he had found himself wishing for some peace and quiet. Lucy had been more demanding of him lately: she was quite frankly driving him crazy with her neediness. Though he didn't do anything to tell her, she seemed to move away slightly, complying with his undisclosed wishes. He appreciated that, though life still wasn't a breeze. There was still the scraggly, bright-eyed loon who went by the title of 'Jude's best friend', Max. And nothing with Max was usually ever peaceful.

Still, Jude wouldn't give up his best friend for anything. He kept him on his toes, and found that he himself kept Max looking in the right direction. Most days. There was no regularity with the American, and it was foolish to wish for it. Just like his mother had told him; 'you get what you're given, Jude. No use pining for something else.'

Just as Jude began his relationship with Lucy, Max began to bring home more and more different women. He was attractive, that was obvious, and charming: really just an all-round ladies man. Yet the number of Max's conquests had grown considerably large, though Max was (for once) quite tight-lipped as to why. For some reason it made Jude nervous, considering Max usually shared everything with him. Like a girl.

It was because of this that Jude had begun to wonder what his exact thoughts on Max's promiscuousness were. So what if Max was getting good prospects in the romance department? That shouldn't affect Jude. So why did it? Why did he all of a sudden care about what Max was getting up to?

He had begun to converse with his conscience. Part of him said that he was just concerned for his friend, but then there was the part, to Jude's dismay, that suggested that he might be having more than platonic feelings for the other boy, and that was something that, to the Brit, was absolutely ridiculous.

Wasn't it?

Of course it was. Max was like his brother- his very daft, dimwitted brother- and the very idea of having more than a brotherly relationship with him would just be wrong.

Right?

Of course it would. Jude shook the thought from his mind again, having had these kinds of thoughts numerous times before. Of course he didn't like Max like that. What was in that cake he had eaten earlier?

Jude was a ladies man also, he had a lot of female friends back in Liverpool, though a lot of them were quite PMS-y and he could never for the life of him figure out why or how. At home, if you could even call it home anymore, he had two groups of friends. There were the bad boys who wore leather jackets and dark jeans that smelled of tobacco, and the sexy, curvy girls who were always into fashion (and, in turn, also smelled of tobacco). Jude smiled faintly at his memory and for a moment he wondered how Molly was doing back in Liverpool. She was a feisty girl, he thought, though with good reason: Jude was rather promiscuous back in the day. But she was a pretty one, and man, did she know how to dance…

The sound of the front door being flung open and hitting against the wall woke Jude up out of his stupor. He turned his eyes upwards to the door, waiting expectantly for a recognizable figure, although something told him he knew exactly who would be coming through the door in a few seconds time.

Sure enough, around two seconds later, his blonde best friend came stumbling through the doorframe, and he fell to the floor in a fit of laughter as soon as he had shut the door behind him.

Jude watched his best friend behind the guise of his sketchpad. He was undetected for a while, liking being in stealth, so he milked the opportunity for what it was worth. Max continued to lie on the floor, laughing about God-knows-what, as Jude watched him through deep eyes. And when Max finally learned that he was not alone, he began to converse with the Brit who was now grinning at the American's sudden hysterics.

'What are you laughing at?' Jude asked, trying to keep the pure adoration in his voice as subdued as possible. Max heaved a sigh and, not moving to look at the brunette, gave a strained response.

'It's a looong story, man. I wouldn't wanna interrupt the creative flow.'

Jude rolled his eyes and set the sketchpad on his knee. 'Since when did you give a damn about not interrupting me?' he chuckled.

Max scoffed and sat up as best he could, leaning on his palms. 'That, my Limey friend, is an insult to my person. I care plenty about… the thing… that you do.' And he laid down again on the wooden floor.

Jude blew upwards, unsettling his fringe. 'Well, mate, certainly news to me. Anyway, why are you home so soon?' He checked his watch and continued. 'Sadie's gig can't be over yet, can it?'

'Wow, Jude,' Max chuckled though there was a grimace on his face. 'So glad to see that I'm wanted.'

Jude rubbed his temples, 'I didn't mean it like tha-'

'Yeah, yeah, I know,' Max said with a cavalier smirk, and Jude immediately knew he had been fooled. It should have been easy to see through the American, he certainly knew him well enough, but he found himself tricked quite often.

Max sat up to continue with what was sure to be a very entertaining ramble. 'I'll tell you what, Judey Boy,' he began and pulled his knees close to his chest. 'I was gonna get laid tonight. Laid, man. As in: intercourse, shag, nooky, jiggery-pokery!'

He waves his hands around wildly as he spoke, trying to add even more emphasis to his words.

Jude roared with laughter at the last reference. 'Uh, mate? Did you happen to accept any substances from strange men this evening?'

'Oh, Jude, go jiggery-pokery yourself,' Max grumbled, laying back down. 'As I was saying before you _so rudely_ interrupted me…' he droned on in his sleepy baritone to a chorus of Jude's laughter, which Max just so happened to find absolutely amazing and he couldn't help but smile as a result. '…is that I was gonna get laid! And I was getting all into it, and this chick was, too. Eh…'

He stalled, and Jude ceased his laughter. 'You've forgotten her name, haven't you?' he asked the blonde apathetically.

Max hesitated before deciding on, 'she has a name?' Jude just shook his head in astonishment. '_Anyway_, it's not like it matters really. You know me-'

'You never sleep with the same girl twice,' Jude finished for him, waving his hands around as if it was old news- which it was. He had a talent for finishing Max's sentences, though the two were nothing alike. Perhaps he just knew him too well.

'Right. So I was like, _really into it_, and then…. You.'

'Me?' Jude chuckled and set his cola glass on the floor with a clink. 'What about me?'

Max groaned a little and then shrugged. 'Nothing to worry you with, really.' He proceeded to point to his head as he went on. 'My brain, you know.'

Jude shook his head in amazement. 'Unfortunately, yes. I do know.'

Max flashed a grin, the type he knew that got right in Jude's corners to make him smile, too. Which he did, though he made it seem as if he did it hesitantly. Max knew deep inside that Jude meant it, and Jude knew the same.

'So you still didn't answer my question,' Jude said. 'Why are you back so soon?'

Max attempted to look offended. 'What? Can't a fine, upstanding young man spend his free time with his best friend without getting accused of ulterior motives?'

He held a hand to his heart in a very feminine fashion. 'I am horrified! Shame on you, Mr. Feeney!'

Jude scoffed. 'Yeah? Well, who said anything about ulterior motives, because it sure wasn't me. And I think you might want to choose a couple different words to describe yourself. I doubt 'fine' or 'upstanding' really fit the bill.'

He took the time to fit in a smirk. 'How about 'tosser' and 'numbskull'? I think those to be quite accurate choices, myself.'

Max snatched a cushion from the floor and lopped it at Jude's head. 'Wow, whatever did I do to deserve such a supportive friend?' he chuckled.

Jude just shrugged and grabbed the cushion, which had landed mere inches from his head, and set it on the floor. 'Consider yourself lucky.'

Max gave a small indignant noise but he didn't say anything else. Instead he began to laugh again: loud, strong bouts of laughter that no one could really explain. Jude took a sip from the glass bottle of cola and squinted at the blonde.

'You alright there, mate?' Jude asked with an entertained half-grin as he set the bottle back on the floor. Max stopped laughing as suddenly as he started and let out a long, exasperated sigh.

'Yeah, man. I'm fine. Just thinking about life.'

Jude set down his sketchpad on the counter and fell to the floor on his knees. He crept over to his best friend and rested beside him. 'Yeah?'

Max looked at Jude for a second and then focused on a paper lantern that hung from the ceiling, nodding.

'Well, what about life?'

Max ran a hand through his hair. 'It's pretty fucked up, y'know?' he asked, but it was more of a statement than a question.

Jude smiled slightly and lay down next to the other boy. He took a moment to really look at his best mate, observing all he could while he was able. He enjoyed looking at Max, and he presumed that that was the artist inside him, examining his subject. He took in everything from his unwashed hair to his bright but tired blue eyes. He liked the contemplative Max, he decided. Actually, he liked Max no matter which part he was playing. Crazy, informative, loyal, jovial, sad. Well, maybe not sad. Jude's mind always worked harder when his best friend was around.

But then maybe there really was more in Jude's heart for Max than in just the friend sense of the word. Jude had noticed lately how he'd forgotten to breathe when Max would occasionally start to sing out of nowhere, or how he'd stop paying attention to the thing he was doing if the American walked into the room.

Perhaps there were more than just friendly feelings for the guy after all. Perhaps Jude was beginning to feel more. Infatuation, endearment. Or maybe the joint he had smoked earlier had decided to pick this moment to start taking effect. Jude smiled at his own thoughts.

No matter what their relationship was, Jude was certain that with the American around, Life was certainly at its best. There was no want for more: Jude didn't need anything else. He'd trade the world to have his best mate by his side.

_If he's _only_ a best friend_, a voice inside his head added. Jude shook it off and heaved a sigh, waking out of his train of thought.

'Honestly, mate?' he said, and Max looked at him. 'I haven't noticed.'

Max furrowed his brow and looked away again. 'That's Jude for ya,' he said, more to himself than to the Brit. 'Forever the optimist.'

Jude laughed a little and then there was silence for a moment.

'How are you, mate?' Jude asked, searching for some conversation.

Max gave a bitter laugh. 'Oh, I'm just fine, Judey. Except now it feels like I don't fit in my pants because I'm so-'

'Yeah, you've said quite enough there, thanks.'

Max grinned and heaved himself up off the floor. He looked down at Jude and couldn't help but laugh at the way his brown hair fanned around his head. 'Anytime.'

Leaving Jude on the floor, he wandered into the kitchen and out of Jude's sight. Jude could hear the fridge door being pulled open, the clink of glass, and the sticky sound of the door closing again before Max trudged back into the living room, a coke in his hand.

'C'mon, Limey,' Max said and extended a hand down to the Englishman. 'I have a hankering for some fresh air and stars.'

Jude took his hand and Max hoisted him up before making his way to the stairwell. Jude grabbed his own coke and followed the blonde, who was now ascending the stairs to the roof. By the time he had joined up with his best mate again, Max had leaned himself comfortably against the brick chimney that protruded from the concrete roof, and was sipping his soda with crossed legs.

Jude jogged over and laughed for the sake of it. 'You look like a pretzel.'

Max looked up with him with an apathetic expression. 'Wow, and you look like an… asshole.' He smirked. 'How do you like them apples?'

Sighing in defeat, Jude sat down next to Max. Very faintly he could hear hard rock music from further downtown, like he could every time Sadie and Jojo played a show. Truthfully, he didn't miss not going to the show. He was happy just as he was.

Jude tried to pick out the music for a while as Max blabbered on about nothing in particular, as he often liked to do when it was late. Not that Jude ever listened, that is. Max was sort of like his soundtrack: wherever he was, there was that little voice nagging at the back of his head.

Once upon a time, Prudence jokingly insisted that it was because he was in love with the blonde and thus he couldn't get him out of his mind.

Not quite, Prudence.

But he did assume that that was part of what love was. Lately he'd been rather unsure if he actually loved Lucy. She was a great friend and he could confide in her, and he loved her in every other sense of the word. But as for _real, mind-numbing_ love, he was certain that he felt nothing.

He didn't think he was up to dying to be with her.

He didn't feel any enthusiasm for her interests.

He definitely didn't want to marry her. So what was the use even sticking around? Jude didn't know. He was rather sure she wasn't completely rapt with him, either. And if he just sat her down and explained this, he's sure she would understand.

But tracing back to his roots in Liverpool, he wasn't one to get out of things that simply. Breakups either involved a): going ahead and hooking up with someone else without officially ending it with the first person, or b): completely ignoring the girl until she finally got the message and left him alone.

But he had changed a lot since his dreary days in Britain and he was sure he couldn't let those options control his relationship with the girl. No. If he were to end it, he'd do it the right way, the 'fine' and 'upstanding' way.

'I get laid all the time,' he announced, trying to question himself a little.

Max turned to him. 'Yeah, but she's my _sister_, Jude. And you're with her. So it doesn't count.'

'So?' Jude countered, suddenly defensive. 'She's still a girl, and she's still… _Do-able_.'

Max raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. 'I don't think I like what you're implying, my friend.'

Jude groaned and threw his head back, accidentally hitting his head – hard- on the chimney. 'Ow! The fucker…' he grumbled as Max exploded with laughter. 'S'not funny,' Jude grimaced, rubbing his head. Max wiped away a tear and wrapped his arm around Jude's shoulder.

'Look at this scene, man. It's perfect. From two different worlds, you and I. But we were bound to meet up sometime, I say.'

Jude glanced at him sideways, painting his face with an uncomfortable expression, though secretly he felt his chest swell. _No use denying it anymore_, he reasoned. _You're fucking in love with him_.

'Well, Jude,' he exhaled, pulling the Brit closer. 'What do you say?'

Jude pondered for a minute. If he told him, and it went the wrong way, he'd probably be punched straight in the face and would wake up after a bout of unconsciousness with a black eye. If it went the way he wanted it to, he'd probably pass out anyway, thinking it wasn't real. He often overworked things that were really quite simple.

Jude decided on the safe insult. 'I say you've been smoking Sadie's special stash, that's what I say.'

Max just laughed. 'Well, Judith,' he began with a smirk. 'There's no denying my charm. I see the way you look at me.'

He outstretched his arms for a moment and waved them around, then wrapped them around his chest as an attempt to keep warm. 'No use running from the Max Factor.'

'What are you, a tube of mascara?' Jude laughed.

Max gave Jude a very fake contemptuous glare to which Jude playfully whacked him 'round the head for. 'Give it up, you tosser.'

Max heaved an exasperated, overdone sigh and pulled Jude closer to himself again. 'Keep telling yourself that, man. I see you checking me out every morning.'

He pinched Jude's cheek and squealed in a babying tone, 'would my Jude be sad if I started wearing shirts in the morniiiing?'

Jude swatted his hand away and grumbled, 'yeah, I'm sure I'd be _devastated_.'

Max grinned, but something the blonde had said had caught the Brit's attention.

'My Jude,' he repeated softly, not really intending for Max to hear.

'What?' Max asked, removing his arm from Jude's shoulder again. Jude turned to him.

'You said "my Jude",' he said, frowning. Max simply laughed.

'Well, yeah. You're my bitch.'

Jude furrowed his eyebrow. 'What?'

Max sighed, unhappy that he would have to waste his precious time explaining what he meant. 'Well, I thought it was kinda obvious, Judey Boy.'

Jude's expression didn't change, showing that Max had explained absolutely nothing. 'You and me,' he continued, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'Us? _We? _… Oh, fuck it.'

And he turned and kissed Jude square on the lips. It wasn't any different from kissing a girl, such as Lucy, though he hated using her as an example as the brother and sister were absolutely nothing alike. It was so similar, but something Jude couldn't quite put his finger on made it different.

It didn't last long, and it was nothing like how Jude had sometimes imagined it happening. One minute there was no air in between them, the next second, they were apart, Max staring off into space again and Jude sitting there wondering what the hell had just happened.

'Well, shite!' he exclaimed, running a hand through his hair. 'You certainly have a way of expressing yourself, don't ya?'

Max laughed. 'Yeah... It's hard to explain with words. I figured I could just show you instead.'

The Englishman paused for a second and tried his hand at kissing the other boy himself. When he broke away, he nodded shortly. 'Yeah, I see what you mean now.'

'It explains a lot, huh?' Max said with a small smile, almost melancholy. 'I guess I'm better at explaining stuff upfront.'

'Yeah, that was pretty upfront alright,' Jude said, shaking his head. He set his hand on Max's shoulder. 'Look, mate. I've been kind of… uncertain… for a while. About how I feel about you and such… But I think you just set me straight.'

Max smiled, but a quality of it showed timidness.

'Let me just sort my stuff out with Lucy first, and then we can figure this all out. Because I'm not too keen on cheating on her, or sneaking around. I'd rather be with you without having to hide it, if that makes sense.'

Max stretched and rested his head on Jude's shoulder. 'Yeah, man. I get it.'

Jude kissed the top a certain blonde head. 'You didn't get laid tonight because of me… this… didn't you?'

The American laughed and Jude could feel it through their embrace. 'Wow, artistic talent _and_ brains… whatever will I do with myself?

'I can think of a few things,' the brunette smirked. 'You're a bit of a tosspot, but I love you anyway.'

'His vocabulary is also rather grand,' Max droned, and Jude could detect a bit of tiredness in his voice. He looked away for a moment and when he looked back, Max had a peeled banana in his hand and was eating away.

'What are you eating?' Jude asked incredulously. 'Where'd you even find that?'

'Well, you know me,' Max shrugged, and waggled his eyebrows flirtatiously. 'Bananas.'

Jude gaped at his friend for a minute and wondered how in the world he came to be associated with such a person. And yet, he couldn't help but feel a large tinge of admiration for the blonde haired, blue eyed boy who could do anything.

-Fin.

--

**Okay, so as I wrote that, I thought that the second half was pretty waning. Then I re-read it and I kinda sorta liked it: all of it! Imagine that! A writer actually somewhat liking her own work! Ok, I over-exaggerate, just like Jude. So sue me.**

**I uploaded this a total of four times- so many typos! Oh well!**

**Please, please, please tell me what you think! Don't just favorite it (if it's at all good, that is), because I love reviews. Don't we all?**

**-**

**So I wrote this over a period of a couple days. When I got scenes in my head, I wrote down what I thought on a text pad file, and then about two hours ago I sat down and wrote the whole thing, including snippets of what I had collected from the vortex that I call my mind.**

**I can't believe it worked, seriously. I've been tossing and turning for **_**weeks**_**, wanting to write a Jax/Across the Universe fic. They ALL ended up being atrocious, seriously, every last one of them. So imagine my delight when this actually turned out better than I expected. Huzzah!**

**Let us hootenanny!**

**And remember, kids. Always practice safe jiggery-pokery!**

**XD**

**Hope to hear from you, guys!**

**(PS: The title/last line is a reference to Dana Fuchs's blog. She talked about shooting Mr. Kite, and the cast spent a few hours goofing off in the fields, and walking on their hands and such. Joe apparently won a lot of the games (Joe is Max in AtU, and Dana is Sadie). She referred to him as '****The Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Brit Who Could Do Anything', so I just had to put that in the story somewhere, right? :P)**

**-Nora**


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